Catholic priests and Jewish congregants have filed a lawsuit against Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio over double standards on worship and protests.
Two Catholic priests from upstate New York and three Orthodox Jewish congregants from Brooklyn filed a lawsuit on June 10 against Cuomo, de Blasio and Attorney General Letitia James in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York.
“It is time to end New York’s experiment in absolute monarchy,” Thomas More Society special counsel Christopher Ferrara said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“We are asking the court to put an end to these unconstitutional executive orders and their prejudicial enforcement.”
The lawsuit accuses Cuomo, de Blasio and James of infringing on freedoms of religion, speech, assembly, expressive association and due process, according to a news release from the Thomas More Society.
Senior Judge Gary L. Sharpe has ordered the defendants to file a response by noon on June 15.
The Thomas More Society’s complaint lists a number of alleged abuses of power, accusing the defendants of exploiting the pandemic to create “a veritable dictatorship” through Cuomo’s executive orders, selectively enforcing social distancing through fines and punishments, and more.
“These orders, both the emergency stay-home and reopening plan declarations, clearly discriminate against houses of worship,” Ferrara said.
“They are illegally content based, elaborate, arbitrary and pseudo-scientific.”
